This invention relates to articles designed for the care. transport and comfort of babies.
The typical parent uses a large number and variety of products while caring for a baby and meeting its many needs. The need for so many products seriously cuts into the parent's mobility and time. Taking the baby along on even the shortest journey or errand frequently requires assembling a large number of objects and loading them individually into the family car.
The present invention provides an apparatus which is a combination of parts, readily foldable into a compact package for easy transport and storage. Individual parts of the combination may be used as, among other things, a front or back pack for carrying a baby by strapping to the adult's torso, and a tote bag for carrying diapers, clothing, feeding bottles, powder, and any number of other accessories. Alternatively, the parts may be combined to form a cushioned bassinet which is readily portable and transportable.
Included among the parts are a collapsible shell, preferably made of fabric partially reinforced, with straps allowing it to be carried by an adult preferably over the shoulder, and a removable liner of bunting material containing support straps for securing a baby to one side thereof. The liner doubles as both liner for the bassinet when placed inside the shell and blanket and body pack (front or back pack) when used alone. Fasteners along the side edges of the liner enable one to wrap and secure it around a baby's torso for use of the liner as a body pack. The fasteners serve a second function when it is desired to combine the liner with the shell for use as a bassinet. In the latter case, the fasteners are mated with fasteners along two side edges of the shell rather than with each other. To convert the shell from diaper bag to bassinet use, additional reinforcements are inserted in the shell to provide it with a rigid open structure to receive the baby once the liner is secured.
Further preferred embodiments of the structure include those in which the liner has a flap of material in each of its two ends, one foldable to form a foot sack for the baby and the other a hood, both for use when the liner is used as a body pack. In further preferred embodiments a resilient cushion such as an air mattress is also included to fit into the base of the shell when the latter is expanded, underneath the liner, providing further padding for the baby.